The Minecraft Movie votes are in and, despite controversy, everyone's a winner

Which community-made build will feature in A Minecraft Movie Squared? The upcoming sequel brings back Jack Black and Jason Momoa as Steve and Garrett, alongside Kirsten Dunst in the role of Alex. To embrace the spirit of player creativity, developer Mojang announced during its latest Minecraft Live showcase that it would be holding a competition where you could create a design that you wanted to see appear in the new movie. With three finalists chosen, the winner came down to a vote - but it wasn't all smooth sailing.

Mojang had hand-picked the three builds that were in contention for the final vote, but with the tally already underway, players brought an issue to the Minecraft developer's attention. The 'Tree Village,' submitted by Ben V., had been made using blocks from multiple different biomes. This went against the rules set during the submission process. "While we appreciate that the build was created with good intentions, we ultimately had to remove the Tree Village build from grand prize consideration for this reason," Mojang states.

Rather than allowing this to sour the mood, however, it took the opportunity to give even more people a chance to make the big screen. While the eventual winner - the 'Lightning Rod Lighthouse' from Francisco C.M. - will take pride of place, the other finalist ('Copper Badlands Castle' by Rosanna C.) will also appear at some point, as will Iola Y.'s 'Tranquil Taiga Tower,' which originally fell in the semi-finals. Not only that, but the Tree Village will still be included "as an honorable mention."

"While going over the submissions, we were blown away by the talent and creativity of every participant," the team writes. "Narrowing it down to three finalists wasn't an easy task - and both Mojang Studios and the filmmakers were huge fans of the entire final roster." It confirms that the full set will appear somewhere in either the movie or the end credits; "All the builds have unique styles and fit so well in their respective biomes, so we're very eager to showcase them on the big screen."

While it made the decision to disqualify the Tree Village, Mojang notes it received "strong support from both the community and our judging panel - including the filmmakers," hence the decision to give it a spot anyway. "We try to put our community first in everything we do, and we think that including Tree Village follows that principle," it explains. It also adds that the newly arrived Tranquil Taiga Tower "is the build that would have advanced to the finals if we'd noticed the extra biome blocks in the Tree Village build in time."

Given that voting had already begun when the issue was highlighted, Mojang says this decision "felt like the most equitable approach to the situation, while also creating an opportunity to highlight more of the community's creativity in the final movie." I'm in full agreement. In many cases like this, such as during Minecraft's old Mob Votes, I couldn't help but wonder why we didn't simply get to have all of the finalists. Having the winner be the focal point, but still finding space to include the others, is the right move.

As for exactly how these builds will show up, Mojang is keeping specifics a secret for now. It notes that "a few small adjustments may be made" to them to ensure they work as needed for their place in the movie, but promises that "the filmmakers are preserving the creativity and spirit that made each build special."

A Minecraft Movie Squared will release in theaters on Friday July 23, 2027. I'm already bracing myself for the fresh wave of memes and brainworms that will inevitably follow. Any takers on which mob will become next year's 'Chicken Jockey?'